Vancouver resident Mitch Ratigan said he encountered a cougar at Ellsworth Springs Park in southeast Vancouver earlier this week, and while cougar sightings are rare in the city, they are not unprecedented

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

Mitch Ratigan knows what he saw.

He and the family dog, Holly, had just entered Ellsworth Springs Park in southeast Vancouver on Wednesday night when Holly started growling.

“When she barks, the other dogs bark,” Ratigan said.

Whatever it was that caught Molly’s attention was not barking back at them, though.

“That’s when I realized this isn’t a dog. It’s a cat. A big cat.”

A cougar.

Ratigan swears it was a cougar. He was 20 to 30 feet away from it, and while he admittedly does not know a lot about cougars, he is sure this was a cougar.

Cougar sightings in Vancouver are rare, but not unprecedented, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ratigan did report the sighting to the WDFW. On Thursday, the WDFW noted it was unable to find additional witnesses.

Ratigan is sure, even if, at first, his mind did not want to process what his eyes were seeing.

“I see this shadow. Looks like a really big dog. It came into the light. ‘Oh my gosh, that is a cougar,’” Ratigan said.

Holly, a Yorkie, was brave and loud, ready to take on the cougar, apparently. Ratigan picked her up and started backing away from the cougar.

It turns out Ratigan initially did the right thing. Pick up your small children (or in this case, the dog) and slowly back away, while being loud. Ratigan said he shouted at the cougar.

Then … Ratigan, with Holly in his arms, turned and ran home.

“Everything you read, it says ‘Don’t run.’ I ran, but it didn’t chase me,” Ratigan said.

Ratigan is an assistant coach with the Seton Catholic High School football team. He said his coaching instincts took over during his encounter.

“If you’re going to play, you gotta play fast,” he said. “I got the heck out of there.”

It has to be noted that Seton Catholic is home of the Cougars.

“There are some woods there, but it’s so residential,” Ratigan said. “I can’t believe it lives there.”

No, it does not live there, WDFW officials said.

“The cougar’s ability to travel long distances occasionally brings these cats into seemingly inappropriate areas, even places densely settled by humans,” according to a release from the WDFW. “Such appearances are almost always brief, with the animal moving along quickly in its search of a suitable permanent home.”

The release said a cougar occasionally will “take a wrong turn” and end up in an unfortunate location.

Seeing a cougar is not necessarily cause for alarm, the WDFW says. (Ratigan might disagree. He was plenty alarmed.) WDFW’s point is that cougars coexist with humans in every part of the state. They are usually most active from dusk to dawn. Ratigan’s encounter came after sunset on Wednesday night.

Still, if you wish to report your sighting, call WDFW at 877-933-9847 or submit an online report: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/report. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Cougar attacks on humans are rare. In Washington, there have been two fatal cougar attacks and around 20 recorded encounters that resulted in human injury in the past 100 years, the WDFW reports.

If you encounter a cougar, here are the tips to help avoid a negative interaction:

• Stop and pick up small children.
• Do not run. Running and rapid movements may trigger an animal to chase.
• Face the cougar. Talk firmly to it while slowly backing away, and make sure you leave the animal an escape route.
• Do not take your eyes off the cougar or turn your back. Do not crouch down or hide.
• Do not approach the cougar.
• If the cougar does not flee, be more assertive. Shout, wave your arms, and throw objects at the cougar to scare it away.
• If the cougar attacks, fight back. Be aggressive and try to stay on your feet.
• Use bear spray or pepper spray if you have it.

Ratigan said he will stick to walking his dog in the park during daylight hours.

“It was a memorable moment,” he said. “It was crazy. It was the last thing you think you’ll encounter, walking in a city park.”